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Upcoming Performances
July 15, 2023
July 22 – August 27, 2023
August 01 – September 10, 2023Menu
Summer Young Company
Program Dates
January 3 to 29, 2023
Arrival: Monday, January 2 Departure: Monday, January 30
Tuition Fees
$4,875 USD
Early payment discount: Pay the full tuition by October 15 and save $600.
Summer Young Company is for young actors ages 17 through 19 who wish to engage deeply with Shakespeare’s work through a more rigorous exploration of text, complemented by introductory voice, movement, ensemble building, and more.
In an ensemble guided by Shakespeare & Company Education Directors and Teaching Artists, participants will be led through theater activities encouraging them to discover the themes, characters, and stories that resonate with them. Throughout this five-week program, participants will actively engage in the creation of a performance piece, using Shakespeare’s plays and poetry as the foundation.
Throughout the program, participants will develop connections and build ensemble; immerse themselves in Shakespeare’s world; uncover associations between their lived experiences and Shakespeare’s plays; expand their curiosity and awaken their imaginations; engage with the natural world; develop the art of story-telling through the actor-audience relationship, and attend performances, lectures, and/or talkbacks within the Shakespeare & Company Summer 2023 Season. This program culminates in a final performance to be shared with family, friends, and Company members.
Classes may include, but are not limited to:
- Exploring and Performing Shakespeare’s Text
- Monologue and Sonnet Work
- Foundations of Scene Work
- Movement and Dance for Shakespeare’s World
- Introductory Voice, inspired by the work of Kristin Linklater
- Fight for the Stage
- Play and Introduction to Clown
How to Apply
Participants must audition for this program, and prepare a 12-to-16 line Shakespearean monologue that resonates with them in a personally meaningful way. Shakespeare & Company auditions invite playfulness and spontaneity. Please wear clothing in which you feel comfortable moving. Applicants unable to travel to Shakespeare & Company, in Lenox, may audition via Zoom.
To Schedule an audition, applicants must email Education Programs Manager Meg Marchione at mmarchione@shakespeare.org, with their name, application, and a letter of interest.
Auditions will be held in-person Friday, April 28 and Saturday, April 29 at Shakespeare & Company, 70 Kemble Street Lenox, Mass., 01240.
Schedule
Summer Young Company takes place both indoors and outdoors at multiple locations in and around Shakespeare & Company, 70 Kemble Street in Lenox, Mass.
Initial Company Meeting: Saturday, June 24; a partial-day introductory meeting and exercises in preparation for the creation and devising of a play during the first week.
Classes and Rehearsals: June 26 through July 28
Final Performances: Friday, July 28 and Saturday, July 29; time and location TBA
Monday through Friday, 9 am – 3:30 pm, with some later evenings possible during Tech Week.
- The program begins promptly at 9 am with check-in, business, and warm-up.
- Classes typically take place in the mornings and afternoons during the first week.
- Classes continue in the morning during the second week, with rehearsals beginning in earnest in the afternoons.
- Lunch break is typically 12 pm to12:30 pm
- From 12:30 pm to 3:30 pm, classes and rehearsals continue, ending in reinforcement
- 3:30 pm End of Day
Schedules are subject to change.
Tuition
$2,000; partial financial aid may be available. Applications for Financial Aid are due at the time of your audition.
The goal of Shakespeare & Company Education is to develop the skills of imagination, empathy, and effective communication, strengthening one’s specific thoughts and feelings in an ensemble environment. Alumni of our Educational Programs are valued not only for their talent and skills, but also for their collaborative spirit, creative risk-taking, authenticity, and social-emotional courage – qualities they may carry through life, and bring to any endeavor they choose to explore.
Course Gallery
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You will study...
.01 Linklater Voice
The full progression of Kristin Linklater’s approach to voice training for actors is taught during the four weeks by Designated Linklater voice teachers. In addition to daily classes in Linklater, voice teachers regularly join in text classes and offer specialized classes to help participants integrate the voice work into their scenes.
.02 Movement
The movement progression includes Pure Movement (Swings), Alexander Technique, physical expressivity, and dance. Participants will be guided through exercises to promote awareness of (and release from) habitual body tension, sensitivity to impulse, dynamic physical presence and stamina, delight in moving with passion and precision, and ensemble.
.03 Text Work
Basics introduces the actor to a text approach which demands an open and personal commitment to thought, word, and gesture. Basics evolves into scene work, first through Dropping In (an approach to experiencing the text on a word-by-word basis) and into text analysis and detailed scene work. Classes in Sonnet and Structure of the Verse round out the text progression, allowing actors to merge their personal connection with the form of Shakespeare’s language.
.04 Actor/Audience Relationship
The participant is invited to explore the Elizabethan world of Actor/Audience Relationship—a theatrical reality without a fourth wall, in which the immediate energy of the audience fuels the actor to reveal a deeper level of truth and experience, which in turns enkindles the audience’s ability to receive Shakespeare’s language.
.05 Clown & Stage Fight
The participant is invited to explore the Elizabethan world of Actor/Audience Relationship—a theatrical reality without a fourth wall, in which the immediate energy of the audience fuels the actor to reveal a deeper level of truth and experience, which in turns enkindles the audience’s ability to receive Shakespeare’s language.
Tuition
Full course tuition is
$4,875 USD
- Early payment discount: Pay the full tuition by October 15 and save $600.
A limited number of scholarships are available for People of the Global Majority/BIPOC artists from the Dennis Krausnick Fellowship Fund. Application and audition video due by October 15. Contact us for more information.
You will learn:
- A deeper connection of the body and voice when acting on stage
- Confidence to be fully present on stage when speaking Shakespeare's language
- An understanding of the forms and structures that support the actor’s emotional, visceral and cognitive imagination
- The skills necessary to authentically deliver Shakespeare’s language with accuracy, specificity, and clarity of thought
- A renewed trust in yourself as a theatre artist
